Scientist. He was a pathologist who devised the "Gleason score", a grading-scale used to assess the severity of, and help determine the best treatment for, prostate cancer. Raised in Litchfield, Minnesota, he was educated at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.D. in 1944, and, subsequently, a Ph.D. in physiology. After internship at the University of Maryland, and service in the US Army, he took his pathology residency at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis. Dr. Gleason became chief of pathology at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis in the 1950s, remaining there until his 1986 retirement, while concurrently holding a professorship at the University of Minnesota. He developed his prostate cancer grading system in the 1960s The Gleason score is a number assigned by a pathologist after reviewing biopsy slides. Cancer cells are graded from 1 (barely malignant) to 5 (severely aggressive). The score is obtained by adding the values of the two most predominant cell types; thus scores range from 2 to 10, with 10 being the worst possible. Acceptance of the system was slow at first, but has been universal since the report of a panel of respected pathologists and urologists was published in 1987. Dr. Gleason received the American Urological Association Presidential Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award of the University of Minnesota, in 2001.
Scientist. He was a pathologist who devised the "Gleason score", a grading-scale used to assess the severity of, and help determine the best treatment for, prostate cancer. Raised in Litchfield, Minnesota, he was educated at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.D. in 1944, and, subsequently, a Ph.D. in physiology. After internship at the University of Maryland, and service in the US Army, he took his pathology residency at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis. Dr. Gleason became chief of pathology at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis in the 1950s, remaining there until his 1986 retirement, while concurrently holding a professorship at the University of Minnesota. He developed his prostate cancer grading system in the 1960s The Gleason score is a number assigned by a pathologist after reviewing biopsy slides. Cancer cells are graded from 1 (barely malignant) to 5 (severely aggressive). The score is obtained by adding the values of the two most predominant cell types; thus scores range from 2 to 10, with 10 being the worst possible. Acceptance of the system was slow at first, but has been universal since the report of a panel of respected pathologists and urologists was published in 1987. Dr. Gleason received the American Urological Association Presidential Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award of the University of Minnesota, in 2001.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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